Healthcare settings present unique risks for workers, which may include biological hazards, physically strenuous patient handling, unsustainable overwork, mental health strain, workplace injuries, and increasing incidents of violence against staff.
MASH – Manitoba Association for Safety in Health Care
MASH, the Manitoba Association for Safety in Health Care, is a specialized, sector-specific safety program dedicated to promoting a culture of safety within Manitoba’s healthcare sector. MASH offers a range of safety training, consulting services, and SAFE Work certification to support healthcare workers in identifying the causes of and solutions to physical harm, psychological harm, and workplace violence.
In 2024, the MFL’s Health & Safety Report Card included the following alarming statistics about safety in healthcare:
- Even though the health-care sector has had the highest injury rate of all sectors in the province for many years, it has been subject to very minimal WCB inspection activity—in the range of one to two per cent of all inspections. That figure increased in 2024, with six per cent of all inspections targeted at healthcare facilities. Although WCB inspections have increased, MAHCP members have raised concerns about the scope of the assessments and whether they go into enough depth to be meaningful.
- While the rate of injuries resulting from work in health care declined from 2022 to 2023, the sector continues to have the highest time-loss injury rate in the province, nearly 50 per cent higher than the provincial average and much higher than sectors like manufacturing and natural resources.
- Health care accounts for about one-third of all workplace violence injuries and the number of workplace injuries caused by violence has quadrupled over the past decade. In 2023, there were 1,800+ physical and psychological injuries due to workplace violence, or an average of five workers injured every day of the year.
View MASH’s Training Catalogue.
View MASH’s Strategic Plan (2025-29).
SAFE Work Manitoba
SAFE Work Manitoba is a division of the Workers Compensation Board (WCB), which aims to prevent workplace injuries and illness through education, training, and resources to improve safety standards.
SAFE Work’s website includes a Training Portal featuring a variety of training courses, many of which are online and completely free.
From spotting hazards to preventing workplace harassment and violence, and from ergonomic workstation design tips to musculoskeletal injury prevention, SAFE Work’s comprehensive training catalogue is available to all and can help foster the culture of safety we all need.